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Monday, February 02, 2015

La Dolce Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema with the New York Philharmonic Featuring Joshua Bell, Renee Fleming and Josh Groban on THIRTEEN's Great Performances Friday, February 27 at 9 p.m. on PBS

Dawning in the dark aftermath of World War II, the fertile mid-century decades
of Italian cinema delighted international movie audiences with an eclectic mix
of movie classics from groundbreaking directors including Frederico Fellini,
Luchino Visconti, Sergio Leone and many more.A major component of Italian cinema's enduring popularity continues to be
a lush selection of sweeping film scores by composers like Nino Rota and Ennio
Morricone.

Featuring
Josh Groban, Renée Fleming and Joshua Bell, Great Performances partners with
the New York Philharmonic and music director Alan Gilbert for a concert of
memorable movie themes with music from Amarcord, Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino,
and more.

La Dolce
Vita: The Music of Italian Cinema will air on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances
Friday, February 27, 2015 at 9 p.m. (Check local listings.)

"There's
so much great music written for film, and to hear it played live by the New
York Philharmonic is an amazing experience," Music Director Alan Gilbert
said. "The best film music is expressive and dramatic, which are the
qualities that you look for all the time in music. The chance to make it come
alive and paint pictures for the audiences is something I relish and
love."

Presented
in collaboration with Sugarmusic, the concert – taped in September -- includes
video projection combining animated graphics and film clips designed by visual
artist Giuseppe Ragazzini, under the direction of Giampiero Solari, and
historical footage from Istituto Luce Cinecittà.

The
program features suites and famous songs, many newly arranged and orchestrated
by music consultant William Ross, from Academy Award–winning films including
Federico Fellini's 8½ and La Dolce Vita; Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the
West; and Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso. For the program's creation,
Sugarmusic made available its catalog of more than 2,000 Italian film sound
tracks.

Together,
Joshua Bell and Josh Groban previously performed and recorded the title song
from Cinema Paradiso as well as Mi Mancherai from Luis Bacalov's Academy
Award–winning score to Michael Radford's Il Postino. Ms. Fleming is featured in
the Sony album We All Love Ennio Morricone, and has appeared on numerous sound
tracks, including Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Hergé's The Adventures of
Tintin as a comical Italian opera diva, Immortal Beloved, The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King, Closer, and Rise of the Guardians.

The
musical program follows below:

ROTA/Arr.
and Orch. W. Ross

Theme
from Amarcord

Stelvio
CIPRIANI/Arr. and Orch. W. Ross

Suite
from The Anonymous Venetian

ROTA/Arr.
and Orch. W. Ross |

Suite
from La Dolce Vita

Ennio
MORRICONE/Arr. and Orch. W. Ross

"Your
Love" from Once Upon a Time in the West

ROTA/Orch.
F. Gurian

Valzer
del Commiato from The Leopard

Ennio
MORRICONE/Arr. and Orch. W. Ross

"Non
Penso a Te" from Incontro

Luis
BACALOV/Arr. and Orch. W. Ross

Suite
from City of Women

TROVAJOLI/Arr.
and Orch. W. Ross

Suite
from Profumo di Donna

ORTOLANI
& OLIVIERO/Arr. and Orch. W. Ross

Theme
from Mondo cane

ROTA/Arr.
and Orch. W. Ross

Suite
from Juliet of the Spirits

Andrea
and Ennio MORRICONE/

"Se"
from Cinema Paradiso

Arr. and
Orch. W. Ross

ROTA/Arr.
and Orch. W. Ross

Suite
from 8½

Luis
BACALOV/Arr. and Orch. W. Ross

"Mi
Mancherai" from Il Postino

A
production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, La Dolce Vita: The Music of
Italian Cinema is directed for television by David Horn and produced by Mitch
Owgang and Richard R. Schilling. For Great Performances, Bill O'Donnell is
series producer and David Horn is executive producer. Great
Performances is funded by the Anne Ray Charitable Trust, the Irene Diamond
Fund, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The LuEsther T. Mertz
Charitable Trust, Rosalind P. Walter, The Agnes Varis Trust, The Starr
Foundation, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, the Kate W. Cassidy
Foundation, and PBS.